LONG BEACH – Esther del Valle wants to be a part of the civic process in Long Beach.

But the 50-year-old del Valle, who was born in Mexico and has lived here for 14 years, only has a basic understanding of English. If she wants to voice her opinion at a government meeting, she must rely on an interpreter who often cannot be provided on short notice.

And then there are the difficulties presented by the conflicting nuances of English and Spanish.

“A lot of times I find myself in the situation where I say something in English or what I say in Spanish is misinterpreted,” del Valle said.

Spurred by community advocates and stories like those shared by del Valle, Long Beach has been working for almost two years on a citywide plan to better serve its non-English language residents.

The City Council will consider approving the policy on Aug. 13, but community groups are asking that council members revise the new umbrella rules because they say the plan does not make meaningful changes for residents who are limited English proficient, or LEP.

Susanne Browne of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles said the state standards used to formulate the policy set an “unreasonably” high threshold for inclusion of 5 percent, or 21,480 residents, who are limited-English proficient.

Only Spanish LEP speakers qualify, with 62,814 in Long Beach, according to U.S. Census data. There are 8,607 Khmer speakers, 5,181 Tagalog speakers and thousands of Thai, Vietnamese, Urdu and Gujarati speakers with limited-English proficiency living in the city.

Additionally, the rules make the city manager responsible for determining what vital documents are translated.

“That doesn’t set any clear standards even for access for Spanish speakers,” Browne said. “I don’t even think for Spanish speakers this could be considered a victory.”

Long Beach already offers a wide range of services for its non-English language residents, spending about $900,000 annually on translation and interpretation.

Many city forms and services are available in multiple languages, and neighborhood resource centers have staff and equipment that help with on-site translation.

The city also maintains a database of about 3,000 employees with linguistic skills, out of a total of about 6,000.

Deputy Director of Development Services Angela Reynolds said the new policy augments what it is now in place.

The proposed plan allocates an additional $257,225 to language access to provide more translated written materials, funding for meeting interpretation upon request, recorded telephonic messages and compliance monitoring.

Also included is $549,956 in “best efforts” recommendations that council could choose from that would hire bilingual employees in point-of-contact positions, train staff translators and educate the public on the city’s language access policy, among other items.

“I think we have a great start here.” Reynolds said. “We wrote the policy to give council a starting point.”

USA Today named Long Beach the most diverse in a study of the 65 largest U.S. cities, a distinction often promoted by city officials.

More than 45 percent of those living in Long Beach speak a language other than English at home, according to U.S. census data.

If officials are going to celebrate the city’s culture, Browne said, they should approve a policy that is more inclusive and not “hyper-focused” on cost.

“What we should be looking at is the cost to the health and safety of the residents of this city if we don’t have a proper language access policy,” said Browne.

While Reynolds acknowledged cost is a concern — Long Beach has battled multimillion dollar deficits for years — she disagreed that the plan is driven by expense.

“Council will see the reality of what we currently do,” said Reynolds. “As you add languages, the costs go up exponentially.”

Browne and a coalition including the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, Housing Long Beach, Centro CHA and United Cambodian Community are recommending a 5,000-resident threshold for the language policy and want to see a plan returned for consideration in 60-90 days.

Setting a timeframe is important, advocates said, because the initial effort was supposed to take 120 days. According to officials, honing the policy and meeting with stakeholders lengthened the process.

Though Browne said litigation is not their intent, the groups are concerned that the regulations as written don’t comply with federal and state law prohibiting agencies from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin or ethnic group identification.

“Our goal is to work with the city to come up with a collaborative policy that meets the needs of the residents of Long Beach,” Browne said.

“When we see a policy that is so insufficient, we feel it’s important to point out that it doesn’t meet the basic requirements of the law.”

Reynolds said the rules were written in cooperation with the City Attorney’s Office and all departments that receive federal funds comply with the law.

As city officials and advocates disagree on the best way forward, residents like del Valle are left in between.

“Although they may not always be the best,” del Valle said. “I will keep using the resources available to me because it’s important for me to voice my concerns about the city I live in even though sometimes I don’t feel like my voice is always heard.”

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